The FEW Program is developed by a committee of current and future ethanol producers.

Program topics will have a strong focus on commercial-scale ethanol production, new technology, and near-term research and development. Over 80 companies are exhibiting, one Gold Sponsor is the Danish Compant Novozymes. Leaders in production of industrial enzymes.

They have a fascinating tale to tell of their work on converting cellulosic material which Dubya referred to in his speech earlier this year in future fuel technologies. "The Administration will accelerate research in cutting-edge methods of producing "cellulosic ethanol" with the goal of making the use of such ethanol practical and competitive within 6 years." President Bush announced the creation of an Advanced Energy Initiative (AEI) that calls for reducing oil imports from the Middle East by 75 percent by the year 2025.

In January 2001, supported by funds from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Novozymes ( a Dansih Company and world's largest enzyme supplier) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) entered into a collaborative research subcontract totalling USD 14.8 million over three years, with a one-year extension worth USD 2.3 million granted in April 2004.

The project sought to dramatically cut the cost of converting cellulose biomass from corn stover into sugars for the production of fuel ethanol and other valuable products. Once commercially viable, a process of this type could help reduce deendency on non-renewable and petroleum-based energy and raw material sources.

As a result, Novozymes have dramatically cut the cost for the process of converting corn stover to ethanol to USD 0.10-0.18 per gallon in laboratory trials. This 30-fold reduction from the starting point of more than USD 5 dollars per gallon in 2001 is due to a combination of pre-treatment technology developed by NREL and novel enzyme solutions from Novozymes. (Current sale price of US preoduced ethanol is US$2.85)

"Novozymes has made great progress in reducing the cost of enzymes for the utilisation of cellulosic biomass, effectively eliminating a major technical barrier to commercialisation. By combining NREL improvements to the pre-treatment of corn stover with new enzymes developed by Novozymes, the cost reduction achieved provides an excellent example of the synergy that can be harvested through well-placed government-sponsored research partnerships. While much work remains to translate this success to the commercial marketplace, Novozymes should be applauded for their fine efforts in this collaboration," said

Douglas E. Kaempf, Biomass Program Manager at the U.S. Department of Energy says , ""Novozymes has made great progress in reducing the cost of enzymes for the utilisation of cellulosic biomass, effectively eliminating a major technical barrier to commercialisation"

The work also opens up other opportunities, for example corn stover may in future be used as a feedstock for products currently derived from petrochemicals.

Successful commercialisation of the biomass-based process for production of fuel ethanol and other useful products still depends on further refinements of the enzyme technology, establishment of a formal collection system for biomass, further progress in overcoming the technical barriers in biomass pre-treatment, optimisation of current yeast organisms, as well as financial incentives for industry to invest in facilities utilising biomass instead of corn starch as feedstock.

Wheat and barley are the main cereals used in Europe for processing into fuel ethanol. They contain viscous hemicelluloses such as beta-glucans. When wheat or barley flour is mixed with water, it becomes viscous even before the starch has been gelatinized. This slurry may be almost impossible to pump through a pipe. Apart from the classical liquefaction and saccharification enzymes used for converting starch into fermentable sugars, specific enzymes are required to reduce viscosity and facilitate the operation.

"In Europe, we are currently focusing on making specific enzyme blends that will be ideal for different cereals," says Lionel Picart of Novozyme. Wheat and barley are the main cereals used in Europe for processing into fuel ethanol. They contain viscous hemicelluloses such as beta-glucans. When wheat or barley flour is mixed with water, it becomes viscous even before the starch has been gelatinized. This slurry may be almost impossible to pump through a pipe. Apart from the classical liquefaction and saccharification enzymes used for converting starch into fermentable sugars, specific enzymes are required to reduce viscosity and facilitate the operation."We already have enzymes such as cellulases, beta-glucanases and xylanases. Now we are formulating them into efficient and cost-effective products for customers." says Picart.

Gerson Santos, R&D Director at Abengoa Bioenergy, St. Louis Miss. said, "These new enzyme systems are the key to the future growth and geographical expansion of the fuel ethanol industry into areas where cereals are not readily available. In 2006, we expect to initiate testing of Novozymes' enzymes solutions at our biomass fractionation process development pilot plant in York, Nebraska, USA to validate the technology's performance.

As one of the biggest ethanol producers in Europe and the USA (fifth largest producer in the United States with an installed capacity of 365 million liters.), Abengoa Bioenergy is a subsidiary of Abengoa S.A., a company which is headquartered in Sevilla, Spain. Abengoa is a technological company that applies innovative solutions for sustainable development in the infrastructures, environment and energy sectors. It is present in over 70 countries where it operates through its five Business Units: Solar, Bioenergy, Environmental Services, Information Technology, and Industrial Engineering and Construction and is committed to the development and commercialisation of biomass-based fuel ethanol production technology for a more sustainable transportation sector."

Abengoa Bioenergy is to demonstrate its biomass-to-ethanol process technology at the BCyL Cereal Ethanol Plant in Babilafuente (Salamanca), Spain. Commissioning is expected to start by the end of 2006; the Biomass Plant will process 70 tonnes of agricultural residues, such as wheat straw, each day and produce over 5 million liters of fuel grade ethanol per year. This will use the technology developed by Canadian company Sunopta Inc. ((NASDAQ: STKL / TSX: SOY) SunOpta Food Group, represents over 90% of annual revenues and is focused on the fast growing natural, organic and specialty foods markets. The SunOpta BioProcess Group represents approximately 1% of revenue and is focused on the processing of biomass for the production of ethanol and other bio-products. The Group has commercially proven proprietary technology with multiple patents on equipment and processes and claims world leadership in biomass conversion.

In January 2006 SunOpta shipped the Pretreatment System for the Abengoa Bioenergy Research and Development pilot plant to be built at the Abengoa corn starch to ethanol plant located at York, Nebraska. This pilot plant is funded by the US Department of Energy and will prove new advances in Biomass Conversion technologies utilizing the Pretreatment System from SunOpta Inc.

The commercial demonstration of the biomass to ethanol production technology marks an important milestone for the growth of Abengoa Bioenergy in ethanol production from renewable resources. The ultimate objective is to develop biomass ethanol technologies that are economically competitive with gasoline.

Other companies such as the Canadian Iogen are also involved in making ethanol from cellulose. Backed by Royal Dutch Shell, the company operates a small pilot plant in Ottawa and says it is exploring opening a commercial plant.

They have developed a different approach which can yield more than 340 litres per tonne of fibre. The lignin (woody fibre) in the plant fibre is also used to drive the process by generating steam and electricity, thus eliminating the need for fossil CO2 sources such as coal or natural gas.

Iogen have developed an efficient pretreatment method to increase the surface area and "accessibility" of the plant fibre to enzymes. This id done with a modified " steam explosion process", improving yield of ethanol, increasing pretreatment efficiency, and reducing overall costs.

Iogen also has new, highly potent and efficient cellulase enzyme systems tailored to the specific pretreated feedstock. Iogen already has a worldwide business experience making enzymes for the pulp and paper, textiles and animal feed industries from which this has developed. This also incorporates a novel multi-stage hydrolysis process.

Iogen then uses advanced microorganisms and fermentation systems that convert both C6 and C5 sugars into ethanol. The "beer" produced by fermentation is then distilled using conventional technology to produce cellulose ethanol for fuel grade applications.

It may not have escaped your notice that the companies at the leading edge of successful development in this process are ...er ... well not US companies.

Bomb and mortar attacks killed at least 31 people in and near Baghdad on Saturday.

A suicide bomber killed 10 people in a Baghdad Shi'ite mosque,on Friday, followed a vow by al Qaeda's new leader (who CIA Psyops have now named as Abu Ayyub al-Masri - there is a US$50,000 reward on his head) in Iraq to avenge the death of his predecessor Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a U.S. air strike on June 7.

2 U.S. soldiers are missing after an attack on Friday in which one American soldier was killed in the insurgent bastion of Yusufiya in the "Triangle of Death" south of Baghdad.

Today (Saturday) a bomb killed 6 people in a crowded market in central Baghdad and mortar rounds killed 2 people in another market in the Shi'ite district of Kadhimiya.

In Mahmudiya, s. of Bagdhad, a car bomb targeting an Iraqi army checkpoint killed 7 people.

Major General Caldwell told reporters that Abu Ayyub al-Masri, a member of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and close affiliate of al Qaeda's number 2 man Ayman al-Zawahiri, was in Iraq in 2002 pre - dating Zarkawi and has taken ovwer from him ... so the propaganda moves on. (pic of him (?) here.

Borage - a self seeding annual of the Mediterranean. This bristly hairy plant has 2 distinct forms of leaves The leaf anatomy differs between the adult basal leaves and the young stem leaves. The basal leaves are about 120 - 150mm long, stalked (with two small basal lobes embracing stem) ovoid in shape and have a wavy (undulate) outline. These leaves also give the alternate popular French name of Langue de Boeuf or Cows tongue - which anyone kissed by a cow will recognise.

The younger leaves are smaller, not more than 100mm long, lanceolate shape, sessile and dentate outline. Both leaves have several prickly bristles, but not as much as in the stem. Despite the bristles, the leaves are still eaten by certain herbivores like small snails and caterpillars.

The branching stems terminateina raceme several elegant bluish-indigo star-shaped flowers. The upside-down (or nearly so) hanging flower is made up of 5 sepals and 5 petals and is about 22-25mm (1 inch) across in size. The sepals are relatively thin, spread-out and densely covered with bristles having a reddish basal bulge. The overall colour of the sepals is usually reddish-brown, but sometimes they are green. The petals are fused together at the basal part forming a single flat, star-shaped flower. The central part is white. IN contrast , there are 5 prominent black (with a purple tinge) stamens that projects out at the white center region.

The stamens, although being seperate, are closely grouped together forming a long (8mm approx) conical, black singular structure. At the center of this, there is the green inconspicuous pistil. The pollen is pale yellow and not much visible from the exterior, since the opening is facing inside at the core of the stamen unit.

Pliny claimed that borage steeped in a wine, was the famous Nepenthe of Homer, which brought absolute forgiveness when drunk. The herb is still often called "cool-tankard" in England, where an old verse relates: " To enliven the sad with a joy of a joke, give the wine with some borage put in to soak"

Francis Bacon (between writing Shakespeare's plays) said Bacon says that it 'hath an excellent spirit to repress the fuliginous vapour of dusky melancholie.' Culpepper found the plant useful in putrid and pestilential fever, the venom of serpents, jaundice, consumption, sore throat, and rheumatism.'

Also referred to as the "herb of courage". In medieval times, borage tea was given to competitors in tournaments as a moral booster.

Leaves are used to be eaten raw or cooked . They can be used as a pot-herb or be added to salads . They are also added whole as a flavouring to various drinks such as Pimms and wine-based drinks . The leaves are rich in potassium and calcium, they have a salty cucumber flavour . Very hairy, the whole leaves have an unpleasant feeling in the mouth and so they are best chopped up finely and added to other leaves when eaten in a salad . .

Flowers can be eaten raw. They are used as a decorative garnish on salads and summer fruit drinks . The flowers are very nice, both to look at and to taste with a sweet slightly cucumber-like flavour

Clinical trials have shown that yhe pressed seed oil of Borage, rich in gamma-Linolenic and Linolenic acid, is used in the same way as Evening Primrose oil in the treatment of menstrual problems, eczema and other chronic skin conditions, and It is often combined with Evening Primrose oil to help reduce blood cholesterol levels.

Borage seed oil reduces cardiovascular reactivity to stress by reducing the systolic blood pressure and heart rate and by increased task performance. A hormonal effect is indicated by a traditional belief that the leaves and seeds of the plant can increase the milk supply of nursing mothers; it is also said to improve mood in menopausal depression.

Gamma Linoleic Acid

Current interest in Borage as a crop plant (it is grown commercially in Alberta, Chile and China) is for its seed which contains a high percentage of gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) (all- cis 6,9,12-octadecatrienoic acid) in the oil. GLA is a precursor of the prostaglandin PGE1 in the human body which is vital in many body functions, such as antithrombotic inhibitory effects on aggregation of platelets, lowering blood pressure, and inhibiting cholesterol formation.

WHAT THE IDF SAY: Based on their surveillance CCTV seen by nobody but the IDF

4.48: Last shell fired at beach.(Shelling beaches on sovereign Palestine territory being normal IDF military activity)

4.54-4.57: Normal activity on beach.

5.12: Palestinians ask Israelis to stop shelling the beach because of medical emergency.

5.15: First ambulance arrives on beach.

Of course to believe the IDF story you need to believe that either Hamas rocketeers use cast iron rockets and deliberately (or maybe accidentally) shell their own beaches - or even left a land mine there (again made out of cast iron) .... oh and you also need to believe in the tooth fairy. ... Amir Peretz, the (Labour Party leader) Defence Minister, declared: " The accumulating evidence proves that this incident was not due to Israeli forces." He obviously does.

Meanwhile ...

Colonel Erez the commander of the Israel Air Force facility where Military Police are investigating the serial rape of an underage girl living on the base announced his resignation yesterday morning.

In the quaint, much admired and divisive Birthday Honours list, the Queen has seen fit to award the Met's Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman, with a CBE. He will be remembered for the total fuck up last week in Forest Gate for which he was responsible.

Apparently the BBC say he did wonders on July 7th ... another fuck up according to the recent report, taking 2 hours to get to the scene of the asassinations, lack of communications , failures of equipment etc., etc.,

Remember our Andy was the guy who went home at 11 pm on the day de Menezes was assassinated by the Israeli trained "special police" marksmen and he didn't know then (he says) they had shot the wrong guy. Wonderful public service. Give the man a medal.

What do they get when something goes right ? ... or is the old dynast having a fucking good laugh at the Met's expense ?

Our Andy of course prepared the Met case for locking terrists up for 30 or more days , this was ably ridiculed by Gareth Pierce in the Guradian here. . he called it another "dodgy dossier".

Hayatullah Khan worked as a free lance journalist. he covered Pakistan / Waziristan / Afghanistan. He was North Waziristan correspondent for two dailies, Ausaf and Nation, and a photographer for the European Pressphoto Agency (EPA). He was reported abducted on December 2nd 2005. International press and rights groups had condemned Khan’s abduction by unknown gunmen and called on the government to act swiftly to find him.

They found him this week outside Mir Ali in N. Waziristan. The deputy administrator of North Waziristan, Mohammad Fida Khan (no relation) said , "We can confirm it is Hayatullah. He was shot once in the back of the head and was in handcuffs,”

Shortly before his abduction he had reported on an explosion in a militant hideout near the Afghan border that killed Abu Hamza Rabia, he reported finding remnants of an American missile which contradicted the official story of Hamzas death.

US forces in Afghanistan detained him for five days in 2002, his colleagues said.

He leaves 3 children, 8 year old Naila Hayat, and her brothers, Hamran, 5, and Fareshta, 6.

A convenient death as attacks increase in Helmland / Waziristan - deeply unpopular in Pakistan, so Mr Mushariff will sleep a little easier.

SpeedAlertis the product of a Sydney, Oz company Smart Car Technologies, that links real-time location data and speed calculated from real time GPS linked to an on board database of posted speed limits stored in a driver's portable PDA or programmable mobile phone.

"It's a clever idea," said Federal Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane of the Australian government, which helped fund research into the product with a Aus.$64,000 Commercialising Emerging Technologies grant announced in March this year.

Speed Alert Knows the limit where you are- Knows how fast you are going- Alerts you when you are speeding- Alerts you to school zones when active- Alerts you to speed and redlight cameras- Runs on your Mobile or PDA

It could be used by parents to remotely monitor teen driving.

Developing intelligent speed alert systems is high on the agenda of European governments, which cooperate on overall Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) strategies. The European Commission supports a separate project, also called SpeedAlert, whose web site states: "In-vehicle speed information and warning system can significantly contribute to road safety."

It doesn't appear that the United States is interested in supporting such a speed-alert strategy. It doesn't appear that the United States is interested in supporting such a speed-alert strategy. Each year, more than 40,000 Americans are killed and nearly 3 million injured in some 6.3 million traffic accidents. The odds of dying in a traffic accident are about 1-in-100 for a U.S. resident. And motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for those ages 2 through 33.

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported in March 2006

1. 58 percent of those killed in road accidents who were not wearing a seat belt crashed along rural roads.2. In crashes involving pickup trucks, about seven in 10 people who died were unbelted.

3.More than six in 10 people age 8 to 44 who were killed inside a passenger vehicle were not buckled up.

Brig. Gen. Richard P. Formica of the US Army (see pic) has investigated and reported on abusive interrogation by forces in Iraq. This principally covered the Fifth and Tenth Special Forces Groups, which are primarily Army units. It did not cover the highly classified special operations units, including Delta Force and the Navy Seals, or other secretive, specialized units including the shadowy Task Force 6-26. (see footnote about these evil macho swaggering bastards busily "liberating" Iraq)

The report released today is actually history, it is a heavily redacted copy of the 75-page classified document General Formica completed 20 months ago. Members of Congress received briefings on its contents more than a year ago (it is said the report played a role in Congress's approval of Senator John McCain's anti-torture amendment ). It has been made public as public a declassified version under a Freedom of Information Act request by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The major concern was , (it appears) General Formica concluded, was that Special Operations interrogators mistakenly used 5 out of 12 interrogation techniques between February 2004 to May 2004 that Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, then the top commander in Iraq, had withdrawn in October 2003 because military lawyers had determined they were overly harsh.

Ssome detainees were stripped naked, drenched with water and then interrogated in air-conditioned rooms or outside in cold weather. General Formica said it appeared that technique was used in the case of one detainee who later died during questioning by Navy Seals in Mosul in 2004. He nonccalantly reports he had no specific allegations related to that death.

General Formica recommended 8 administrative changes (whooop di do say the relatives of the dead - administrative changes ....WOW !!) , including more training for Special Operations interrogators, minimum standards for detention conditions, and new policies regulating the use of indigenous forces who worked with Special Operations soldiers. Pentagon officials said today that all eight had been carried out.

Formica found that overall conditions "did not comport with the spirit of the principles set forth in the Geneva Conventions," which require humane treatment of prisoners.

Formica said, for example, that the forces used five interrogation techniques that were allowed at one point but had been rescinded by then: sleep or food deprivation, yelling and loud music, forcing detainees to remain in stressful physical positions, and changing environmental conditions, which could include making their locations too hot or too cold.

Formica also found that the nakedness "was unnecessary and inconsistent with the principles of dignity and respect" in the Geneva Conventions.

He did however make a decision about disciplining errant soldiers. They won't be disciplined ... because says the worthy General , he faulted "inadequate policy guidance" from superiors and not "personal failure" for the mistreatment, and he said that none of the Iraqi detainees he later interviewed seemed to be any worse for wear because of the mistreatment... so that's alright then .. presumably the dead man in Mosul and his relatives felt the same way too. Fiat justitia as they say in the Baghdad coffee shops.

Amrit Singh, an ACLU lawyer who has been following the abuse investigations, told the Washington Post the report is troubling, because the inquiry failed to investigate dozens of allegations that secretive task forces such as TF-121 and TF-626 seriously abused detainees.

"It signals what we have known for a while, and that is that the Special Operations forces were operating with impunity in Iraq and Afghanistan for a prolonged period of time," Singh said. "What is revealing about these investigations is what they do not say. What is the government afraid of that it so narrowly circumscribed its investigation and then withheld it from the public for years?"

CNN quotes her saying the report was a "whitewash".

AP reports that to date, there have been about 600 investigations into detainee-related incidents of all kinds, including natural deaths and detainee assaults on other detainees, and they quote Army spokesman Paul Boyce, " 267 soldiers have received some type of punishment, including 85 courts-martial and 95 nonjudicial actions."

The Boys in the Black Room Task Force 6-26 (The Boys with the toys)

The Black Room was one of the former Iraqi government's torture chambers , it was also part of a temporary detention site at Camp Nama, the secret headquarters of a shadowy military unit known as Task Force 6-26. Located at Baghdad International Airport, the camp was the first stop for many insurgents on their way to the Abu Ghraib prison a few miles away.

In the windowless, jet-black garage-size room, some soldiers beat prisoners with rifle butts, yelled and spit in their faces and, in a nearby area, used detainees for target practice in a game of jailer paintball. Their intention was to extract information to help hunt down Iraq's most-wanted terrorist, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, according to Defense Department personnel who served with the unit or were briefed on its operations.

Since 2003, 34 task force members have been disciplined in some form for mistreating prisoners, and at least 11 members have been removed from the unit, according to new figures the Special Operations Command provided in response to questions from The New York Times. Five Army Rangers in the unit were convicted three months ago for kicking and punching three detainees in September 2005.

The secrecy surrounding the highly classified unit has helped to shield its conduct from public scrutiny. The Pentagon will not disclose the unit's precise size, the names of its commanders, its operating bases or specific missions. Even the task force's name changes regularly to confuse adversaries, and the courts-martial and other disciplinary proceedings have not identified the soldiers in public announcements as task force members.

A key figure in creating these death squads has been Special Forces veteran Lt. Gen. William Boykin. Boykin became notorious in October for publicly describing recent U.S. military operations as a Christian war against Satan and Islam. He told an audience in Sandy, Ore., in June 2004 that George W. Bush got to the White House despite losing the popular vote in 2000, because god himself wanted Bush in power.

In June 2003 he publicly declared that radical Islamists hated the United States "because we're a Christian nation, because our foundation and our roots are Judeo-Christian ... and the enemy is a guy named Satan."

Boykin told another religious neeting .. "Why is this man in the White House? The majority of Americans did not vote for him. He's in the White House because God put him there for a time such as this."

General Boykin once told NBC that he would be curtailing his speeches to religious groups. "I don't want to come across as a Right-wing radical," he said.

Paradoxically Task Force 6-26 had a singular focus: a very Un-Christian one at that ... capture or kill Mr. Zarqawi, the Jordanian militant operating in Iraq. "Anytime there was even the smell of Zarqawi nearby, they would go out and use any means possible to get information from a detainee," one official said... now 3 years later it was the Iraqis who found him with the help of the Jordanians. Obviously the Task Force 6-26 was not a great success in operational terms.

In the summer of 2004, Camp Nama closed and the unit moved to a new headquarters in Balad, 45 miles north of Baghdad. The unit's operations are now shrouded in even tighter secrecy and have been renamned as Task force 121 which is ...

Task Force 121 was already in existence. TF121 was formed from TF5 (Afghanistan) and TF20 (Iraq). It is a combination of Air, Army and Navy Special Forces. As of 2004, TF121 was composed of 4 elements:

1. Grey Fox: a deep-cover organisation based at Fort Belvoir in Northern Virginia. Specializes in Spying. After 9/11, Grey Fox was incorporated into.

2. Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) at Fort Bragg, North Carloina; they report to Command Centre in Tampa, Florida.

TF121 is reputed to bear a resemblence to the Vietnamese Phoenix Programme.

General McChrystal, the leader of the Joint Special Operations Command, received his third star in a promotion ceremony at Fort Bragg on March 13 - eventtually he got the credits for bombing Zarkawi last week.... cui bono ?

Latest news is the unit is now called Task Force 145.

Sorry .. I just cannot take these people seriously ... what the fuck do they do when the war on terror is over ?

Friday, June 16, 2006

Atmospheric chlorine has a short life , as the chlorine molecules breaks apart just minutes after entering the atmosphere and being exposed to sunlight. Chlorine salts are naturally present in coastal air in sea salt aerosols, it also leaks from treatment plants for water in swimming pools, cooling towers and municipal water supplies.

At the University of California, Irvine they measured chlorine continuously for 2 months, and found levels of + - 5 parts per trillion and sometimes up to 15 ppt - the photochemistry of chlorine at these levels becomes interesting because the chlorine reacts with chemical smog, the mix of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides from automobile and power plant emissions, and contributes to the complex chain of reactions that leads to ozone formation. The researcehers could find find (or at least determine) no obvious link between chlorine levels and meteorological conditions such as wind, temperature or relative humidity or existing pollution levels

The primary cause of urban ozone is the reaction of hydroxyl radical (OH) with hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides. OH is a highly reactive molecule made of oxygen and hydrogen that forms photochemically in air.

"For the last 30 years, we've known that the hydroxyl radical is the primary cause of ozone," Saltzman professor of Earth system science in the School of Physical Sciences at UCI said. "Chlorine plays a similar role. It doesn't take much chlorine to affect ozone chemistry.".. from this they estimate that chlorine photochemistry creates five to eight parts per billion of the maximum daily ozone level, which in California typically ranges between 40 and 80 parts per billion.

Ozone is important to human health because it is a highly reactive and unstable gas that can damages living cells. Even low levels of ozone can harm the upper respiratory tract and the lungs, causing a cough, throat irritation and reduced lung function, and aggravate the effects of asthma, bronchitis and emphysema.

Saltzman says "Understanding the chemistry of chlorine is important to understanding its role in ozone chemistry, especially in California where air quality is such an important issue."

Saltzman and Brandon Finley, a graduate student researcher in the Department of Earth System Science, published their findings in the current issue of Geophysical Research Letters.

Aegis helpfully handed the results of it's own "investigation" to the US Army's Criminal Investigation Division, who have decided that the incident (s) shown on the film was within the rules on the use of force by civilian personnel.

Aegis, which is effectively the mercenary arm of the Ministry of Defence says rules of engagement "allow for a structured escalation of force to include opening fire on civilian vehicles under certain circumstances".

Nobody denies that the footage seen and posted on a website set up by Aegis contractors in November 2005 was of Aegis contractors. The BBC report and Aegis spokesman "There was no evidence of any civilian casualties as a result of the incidents and the images published were all taken out of context." So that's all right then.... images taken out of context.

The US military investigation concluded that no-one should be charged with any criminal offence.

Just to remind you, General Sir Roger Wheeler , Knight Grand Cross of the Bath , CBE was Chief of the General Staff, the professional head of the British Army, between 1997 and 2000. Sir Roger is the current 'Constable of the Tower of London'. He is also a Non-Executive Director in Aegis Defence Services headed by the controversial soldier of fortune, Lieutenant-Colonel Tim Spicer OBE.

He is also a Director of the Serious Organised Crime Agency which took over from NCIS on 6th April with ex MI5 spooky Lander as Head crime buster. see here ... set a thief ....

Yesterday VeraSun Energy Corporation (NYSE: VSE) announced today the pricing of its initial public offering of 18,250,000 shares of its common stock at $23 per share (before underwriting discounts and commissions). VeraSun is selling 11,000,000 shares and some shareholders are selling 7,250,000 shares. In addition, certain of the selling shareholders have granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 2,737,500 shares of common stock at the initial public offering price.On first days trading the shares soared to US$30 a rise of 30%. (pic a mixed ethanol / gas pump)

This puts a value on the company of 200 times its annualized earnings from the March quarter 2006. Compare that with (say) 50 for Google.

The company has 2 ethanol production facilities, a 120 million gallon per year ethanol plant in Aurora, South Dakota, and a 110 million gallon per year ethanol plant in Fort Dodge, Iowa. VeraSun is the nation's second-largest ethanol producer. A third plant is already being built in Charles City, Iowa. Net sales proceeds will finance a portion of the construction costs of two additional ethanol production facilities in the upper Midwest, with the balance expected to come from cash-on-hand and cash generated from operations during the construction period.

The Charles City plant will make 110 million gallons per year of ethanol . VeraSun estimates the plant will employ 50 skilled workers with $2 million in annual salaries. The plant will also increase tax revenue for the community, which will result in additional monies for community projects such as schools, parks and infrastructure projects.

VeraSun has begun site preparation and plans to complete construction of the plant by late summer 2007. The plant is being engineered by ICM Inc., of Colwich, Kan., and the general contractor is Fagen Inc., of Granite Falls, Minn.

Nationwide USA There are 32 ethanol plants being built, and six of the 101 already operating are being expanded currently producing 4.8 Mn gallons , says the Renewable Fuels Association.

The US market price of a gallon (3.8litres ) of ethanol hit $2.30 on March 31.. That's up 43% from a year earlier and double from 2002.Corn prices remain stagnant - The average US price per bushel was $2.22 in March, up 8% from a year earlier and down 5% from 2002 which makes ethanol competitive/ Hoever it costs more to make ethanol that it can be sold for although the Energy Act 2005l requires increasing amounts of ethanol (The renewable Fuel element) in fuel every year through 2012.

Hawkeye Holdings and Aventine Renewable Energy, the No. 3 and No. 4 producers of ethanol, are planning IPOs - Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) the nations biggest ethanol producer (25%) will double its capital spending to between $3.5 billion and $4 billion over the next few years on investments in new ethanol and biodiesel plants, as well as other projects, which will be profitable even if oil drops below the current $70 or so per barrel. ADM have also announced the formation of an ethanol marketing agreement to market all ethanol produced by Millennium Ethanol at its forthcoming 100 million gallon Marion, South Dakota facility. (Just remember in all this frenzy ADM stock has skyrocketed 73% this year through late May, an incredible run for a company that posted 0.6% lower revenue of $35.9 billion in the fiscal year ended June 2005.)

Over on the West Coast the recently launched Pacific Ethanol, (which has yet to produce any ethanol) saw shares rise , rose $1.50, or 7.5 percent, to $21.64. They peaked in May at $42.39 after Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates had invested $84 million in the company through his Cascade Investment LLC.(Bill told me today he has retired from MS and is concentrating on this charities).

Fresno, California-based Pacific Ethanol is building a 35 million gallon-a-year plant near Fresno that will make it the biggest ethanol producer in the state. Pacific Ethanol plans four more distilleries on the West Coast by the end of 2008.

Ethanol is of course also sourced in Brazil and elsewher from sugar cane and is being imported, but the U.S. is unlikely to drop the current 54-cent-a-gallon tariff on imported ethanol, one of the few issues that had bipartisan support in a divided Congress.

Airbus has unveiled a novel “super first class” concept on its revamped A380 cabin mock-up in Toulouse which could debut on the aircraft with some of the early operators Emirates / Qatar Paul Gut tells me.(See pic more here)

The forward upper deck features three completely enclosed suites down each side, with a large aisle that is occupied by two sofas and tables . Each suite contains a reclining chair and sofa – the latter doubling up as a bed.

Meanwhile the mindless lemmings in the stock market were unloading EADS stock today like it was diseased, which was down further production delays (6 months) to its super-jumbo A380 flagship and a profit warning.

The stock in the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company was down 35% at 16.75 Euros (peak 35.42 in March) all this because of the news of delivery delays (long anticipoated) on nine A380's which will impact on profits.

Now is the time to buy in , Airbus are superbly positioned.

1. The 380 is one of a class, just as Boeing never could go supersonic (and spoilt the major US market by banning overflying) they will never compete in the big movers class - which they are shut out of for at least a decade.

2. The re-designed A350 (to be renamed) will be a hard act to match.

3. The Dreamline is still that - a dream , it hasn't floewn yet and is made all over the opwlrd in bits an asembled in Evewrett - the production problems haven't started yet - but they will.See Boeing stock tank when the production problems arise - and they will.... never mind the sleaze etc.,

4. The best news is coming from China - Airbus have a long history and are establishing manufacturing facilties - China will be the growth market for the next decade.The National Development and Reform Commission's Tianjin office announced long awaited news of EADS 3rd final assembly plant (the others are Toulouse and Hamburg) will be built in at a cost of Euros 7Bn the coastal city for its A320 planes.The first planes will roll out in 2008.

The Airbus A320 series of single-aisle jets are widely used in China, a market dominated by regional routes. In December, China ordered 150 of the airliners.

5. EADS will have British Aerospace off their back - it is effectively a US company now anyway... and their management is lousy and depends entirely on Government handouts in the form of Ministry of Defence work.

Get some in your 41K today. Be patriotic buy stock in a European company that is building planes in and for China and isa thrashing Boeing in the market place.

Late Breaking news today

Air China, the country's flag carrier, said today it had agreed to buy 24 Airbus A320 aircraft for $1.74 billion for delivery between 2007 and 2010.

Thursday, June 15, 2006

San Carlos based Tesla Motorsled by Martin Eberhard (see pic) have raised US$40 million Series C financing led by VantagePoint Venture Partners, one of the largest CleanTech investors in Silicon Valley (US$2.8 Bn funds - ) , and by Elon Musk, founder of Paypal and CEO of SpaceX -. Musk co-founded Zip2 Corporation which was sold to Compaq in 1999. Mr. Musk is an early investor in Tesla Motors and also serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the company.Total funds raised now = USD$60 Mn) ... a launch is expected - and eagerly awaited.

The money will fund the company's first high performance electric sportscar, and to support final safety compliance testing and production. The company also announced that Jim Marver, managing partner and co-founder of VantagePoint Venture Partners, will join Tesla's Board of Directors.

"Tesla is driving change throughout the CleanTech sector in bringing to market real-world innovations for consumers. The Company will be instrumental in transforming the way that consumers view CleanTech products -- they can now have style and speed -- and be good for the environment," said Jim Marver of VantagePoint Venture Partners.

"By leading the technology change from gasoline to electric vehicles, I believe Tesla has the potential to be one of the great car companies of the 21st century," said Elon Musk, Chairman of Tesla Motors. "The starting point is a high performance sportscar, but the long term vision is to build cars of all kinds, including low cost family vehicles. Tesla is one of those rare opportunities to change the world in a positive way and build a valuable company in the process."

About Tesla Motors

Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning founded Tesla Motors was founded in June 2003 to create efficient electric cars for people who love to drive. The company currently employs 70 people, including teams in California, the UK and Taiwan.

Tesla Motors creates vehicles that conform to all U.S. safety, environmental and durability standards. Tesla's cars include modern safety equipment such as airbags, front crumple zones, side impact protection, 2-1/2 mph bumpers. Tesla will sell cars in the US only when they pass the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS).

CEO of Tesla Martin Eberhard was previously CEO of NuvoMedia in 1997, Martin's company created the market for electronic books with the Rocket eBook and pioneered the distribution of electronic content securely over the Internet. As CEO of NuvoMedia, Mr. Eberhard raised $27 million in three rounds between 1997 and 1999. In 2000, he negotiated the sale of the company to Gemstar/TV Guide International for $187 million.

Prior to founding NuvoMedia, Martin was Vice President of Electronics at Belfort Memory International, co-founder and Chief Engineer of Network Computing Devices, Inc., and developed high-volume terminals for Wyse Technology Inc.Marc Tarpenning worked with him at Nuvo Media and is Head of Engineering.

Martin has a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Engineering and Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois. says "What we’re building is completely different than the others cars on the road. It’s fun to drive, beautiful, and quick, and it’s electric, environmentally friendly and incredibly efficient."

Martin says "We’re changing the way cars are. Ten years from now, it’ll be obvious that electric cars are the way to go. They are more efficient than any other car on the road, and they are the ultimate multi-fuel technology, because you can make electricity with whatever comes along. If we want to free ourselves from our addiction to oil, it’ll be through electric cars."

VP, Vehicle Integration, Malcolm Powell is a Limey and worked with Lotus for many years and Ford before then.

Checkout a video here of the electric Wrightspeed 0-60 in 3.00 seconds which gives some idea of what an electric sports car can do. (see pic)

The Croatian Sabor (Parliament) passed a resolution declaring 2006 to be Nikola Tesla Year, 150 years after his birth. July 19th has been declared Nikolas Tesla day by UNESCO and Belgrade International Airport has been renamed in his honour.

Ericsson Nikola Tesla is also co-organizing an international conference under the title "Life and work of Nikola Tesla", that will take place on June 28 and 29 in Zagreb.

Tesla is an unremarked genius and was a great visionary, alternating currents and electric power transmission being his most important concerns - without which we would not have distributed pwer systems we rely on today. He contributed to other areas as well such as research and development of turbines, remote control, lighting, lasers, application of high frequency currents in medicine, research of x-ray instruments, etc. described in 112 patents of the US Patent Office as well as in numerous other documents.

St. George Serbian Church, Niagara Falls, Ontario has successfully negotiated and secured a World destination site, of an outstanding design, for the establishment of a significant monument to Nikola Tesla within Queen Victoria Park. The Nikola Tesla Memorial is scheduled to be unveiled at Niagara Falls on Sunday, July 9, 2006 marking the 150th anniversary of Nikola Tesla's birth. (Which UNESCO wants to call Nikolas Tesla Day)The Tesla Memorial Society of New York is a good place to start to learn about him.

The packing industry is now getting excited about the forthcoming Smart Label Summit Americas, taking place in MIami on 27-28 June.

Newcomer is UK company TIMESTRIP® based in Hitchin, Hertfordshire and was formed in 2001.

Recently launched on the AIM market ((TIME.L )August '05 at 4p now trading @8p) on the LSE they have produced a patented, single use, encapsulated tag / label that once activated, a non-toxic liquid dye travels by capillary action across a micro-porous material at a prescribed rate, allowing the consumer to clearly see the amount of time that has passed since a product was first used.

The labels can be manufactured to show time lapses from just a few minutes to 6 months and the technology can be fully integrated in to products or packaging as well as the standard adhesive pack labels..

The technology can be used equally to food and non-food products which, once opened, should be used or replaced within a recommended time.

CEO Reuben Isbitsky, says: 'Smart Label Summit Americas is a great platform to introduce Timestrip to all sectors of the industry.

Lord Patel has arranged for his readers to have FREE access to World Cup matches on your PC. Go here follow the easy peasy instructions for my Chinese friends TVU player only available in the last 2 weeks - Undocumented feature - double left click on screen shot to get full screen display.

For example USA v Italy is Saturday at 3pm EDT, on ABC only. There are of course many channels available.

Pic is of Polish fan ((C) Daily Telegraph) who won't be seeing too much soccer.

Lord Patel has a special offer for his readers only !! You want to watch the World Cup free on your PC. Go here follow the instructions to download your TVU player - easy peasy. For example USA v Italy is Saturday at 3pm EDT, on ABC only.

The Swiss secret service, eavesdropping centre in Zimmerwald, south of Berne (pic) intercepted a Fax on November 19th 2005 using their national Onyx surveillance system (similiar but smaller than UKUSA ECHELON) . The officer marked their personal coded identifier, “wbm”, on the page and put the information down in a COMINT SAT report. The intercepted fax was given the reference number 160018 TER 00000115. This was published On 8 January 2006, in the Swiss newspaper Sonntagsblick (Sunday edition of the Blick newspaper).

The objective of the Onyx system is to monitor both civil and military communications, such as telephone, fax or Internet traffic, carried by satellite. In a way similar to ECHELON, Onyx uses lists of keywords to filter the intercepted content for information of interest, and the choice of keywords by the intelligence community must be approved by an independent commission.The system first saw life as SATOS-3 (the SATOS 1 and 2 systems were started in 1992, in particular to intercept faxes).

Dated 10th November 8.24 pm the Fax was from the Egyptian foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, in Cairo, to his ambassador in London. It revealed that the US had detained at least 23 Iraqi and Afghani captives at a military base called Mihail Kogalniceanu in Romania, and added that similar secret prisons were also to be found in Poland, Ukraine, Kosovo, Macedonia and Bulgaria.

The report noted: “The [Egyptian] embassy got the information from its own sources that 23 Iraqi and American citizens have actually been interrogated at the military base Mihail Kogalniceanu close to the [Romanian] city of Constanza at the Black Sea. Similar interrogation centres exist in Ukraine, Kosovo, Macedonia and Bulgaria.”

The fax also referred to “prisoners being transported with American military planes from the base Salt Pit in Kabul to the Polish base Szymany and to the Romanian base on September 21 and 22, 2005.” It then went on to say: “In contradiction to all quoted facts, the Romanians deny the existence of the prisons that are used to interrogate members of al-Qaeda.”

At the time Jean-Blaise Defago, a spokesman for the Swiss defence ministry, declined to comment on the contents of the document, saying only that the authorities did not know how the newspaper had got hold of it.

He said Defence Minister Samuel Schmid had ordered an inquiry and confirmed that legal steps were being considered.

A Boeing 737, N313P, landed in Timisoara on January 25, 2004 just before midnight after flying from Kabul. It stayed on the runway for just over an hour and then flew on to Palma, Mallorca, where a CIA rendition team stayed in a hotel under fake identities.

Rendition jet N313P also travelled from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, to Kabul on September 21, 2003. On September 22, it flew from Kabul to Szymany, a Polish defence ministry airfield. Close by is the Stare Kiejkuty base used by Polish intelligence. CIA jet N313P stayed only 64 minutes before flying to Romania.

Basically prisoners were transfered with diplomatic status, as the plane was effectively sovereign US territory.Each prisoner would be coded with a 900 series diplomatic passport.... and nobody would ask questions.

Page 174 tells of another mealtime with POTUS and spouse in the White House ..

" The President drew me over to a yellow couch at the end of the room and we talked intently about Iraq as Francie and Mrs Bush talked about books. At least I supposed that's what they were talking about because both are passionate readers, and , it turns out, both read in bed" ... the President sipped a non-alcoholic beer, the rest of us had white wine."

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

What's gotten into Campbell Brown? I'd had her pegged as a conventional MSM liberal, but in recent times, she has manifested a refreshing streak of independence that was very much on display in her interview of Howard Dean on this morning's Today show.

Things came to a head over the Dems' vague and conflicting positions over Iraq.

Began Brown: "Let me ask you about Iraq. I want to ask a straightforward question. What is the Democrats' position on Iraq? What solution do Democrats have?"

Dean: "We believe that the President is wrong to say this will be left to the next president. That's not the right approach. Secondly, we believe there needs to be a transition, that the Iraqis need to take over and our troops need to come home and be redeployed to other parts of the world to fight terrorism. The war on terror has nothing to do with the war with Iraq, or at least it didn't until the president got us in there. We believe in transition. This is now the responsibility of the Iraqis. And we believe that this cannot be left to the next administration. It needs to be dealt with now."

Hit back Brown: "But 'dealt with now', that's not that different from President Bush's position."

I am reading the turgid, badly written, wordy, " MyYear in Iraq ; The struggle to Build a Future of Hope" by superannuated ex-Ambassador and MD of Kissinger associates L.Pauk Bremner, the booted and suited pro-consul for the Empire in war torn Baghdad. (Review in Middle East Policy Council Journal by Robert Dreyfuss) ...

" ...Some would say that this was a period of just about nonstop bungling and mismanagement and that, if we have to blame anyone for it, we might as well blame Bremer. But Bremer disagrees and he takes more than 400 pages to do so." Quite

Arch neo-con and AIPAC acolyte Michael Rubin's review on the Amazon website ... "Bremer presided over the U.S. government's most ambitious reconstruction project since the Marshall Plan, but his lack of introspection, at least as chronicled in "My Year in Iraq," is striking. Events overwhelm and analysis falls short. Institutional and systematic problems within the CPA - including the dysfunctional relationship between Bremer and the U.S. military - go largely addressed. While historians will debate Bremer's record for many years to come, "My Year in Iraq" sheds considerably less light than one otherwise might wish. "

Today I picked up the June 8th copy of the NY Review of Books ...especially to read Michael Massing : consider "The truth about the Israel Lobby" in which he accuses academics Mearsheimer and Walt of not being investigative hournalists. He helps redress this by some of his own enquiries. I was much taken in the Bremer book, how the State bought a package , they got Bremer but they also got his security detail from Blackwater from his Kissinger days (did they ever stop?).

With Paul also came Dan Senor, as press spokesman, (A former Senior Associate at the Carlyle Group, Senor was briefly Scott McLellan's deputy as White House spokesman) introduced on page 57 sitting up all night co-ordinating things with Rimsfield's chief of staff Larry di Rita... pages 112 /3 has him complaining that the press don';t want "good news strories" ..

" we did get the choppers to carry the news media... the focus og their coverage was death and mayhem ..while they largely ignored progres son reconstruction and building the foundations of democracy" QED it's the Press's fault.

We have Dan (page 136) dropping cue cards making Bremer look "shifty" when adressin the Iraqis on TV, Page 235 Dan is rigging the stories that Douglas Fieth is not giving Paul a "ringing endorsement" as if that cocksucker would give anyone an even break.Page 279 and Senor hits Paul with the worst stroy ever .. that was to break in Baghdad " ... apparently some MP's guarding detainees forced them to engage in homosexual acts ... one was made to crawl around with a dog's leash .. " presumably Lindie England, the Dangerous Beauty living out her fantsasies under direction at at the taxpayer's cost. Curiously the snapper of all these hideous pics has never once been named, remarked upon - weren't they just as complicit in the crimes ?

Senor was on the case and Gen Kimmit announced an enquiry abour "reported incidents of detainee abuse" It was that afternoon that Paul was in the Oval Office with the Presient .. " I hope they find every last guilty person .. e've got to punish them as soon as possible "

Of course when the really BIG story broke and Saddam was found cowering, unprotected , alone in an underground cave, Senor was in Toronto... he doesn't get the credit for " Gentlemen ..WE gottim !"

His sister is Wendy Singer Senor who is married to Saul Singer the editorial page director of the Jerusalem Post and friend (wouldja bleeve it ) of Daniel Pipes. Mr Perle is of course Director of the J Post.

Dan Senor completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Western Ontario and Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He earned his MBA from Harvard Business School.

At some time he also filled in as an International Election Monitor based in Kiev and Kirovograd during the Ukrainian election.

Fox News has hired Senor as a "Fox News contributor." from Feb 2005.

Google appointed Dan Senor, the company's new Global Communications and Strategy VP, from May 2005. IN a news story about that one (anonymous writer) says "I have come to associate his triangular, brush-cut head with an unceasing stream of bullshit. He's Ari Fleischer without the charm." Google later said he would just do "contracting" work for them.

On 11th July 2006 he announced an engagement to NBC anchorlady Campbell Brown - Brown has covered major news events for the network, including the last two presidential elections, reporting from Baghdad during the first Iraqi elections and reporting from Iraq months earlier when the first American soldiers were court-martialed for abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. (pic the future Mrs Senor)

Meanwhile Dan also gets see his friend Joshua Bolten, Director of the Office of Management and Budget on a regular basis.

He did however get a spot (reported by Newshounds) on the Bill Maher show Feb 19th 2006 and revealed a rather tetchy streak when qiizzed about the way the CPA "lost" US$9BN".

Bill Maher started of by saying that there's been no accountability for the lost 9 billion dollars in Iraq. Bill added that Michael Jackson watches money more carefully than that. He asked, "How do you lose 9 billion dollars?" Maher said there were virtually CPA's with wheelbarrels full of $100 dolllar bills being carted around in Iraq after the 'Mission Accomplished' had been declared.

Dan Senor: So,here's what happened. It was a lot of Iraqi money (Comment: What? This was U.S. money given to Iraq) that was being disbursed quickly, so we could put Iraqi's back to work. We had a million and a half Iraqi's on the government payroll. We had to get the money out quickly. We could have waited and held back and not distributed the money and waited for auditors to be there and waited for first world accounting standards to be in place to prevent against this kind of fraud and hope that all that would be in place in time for all these million and a half Iraqis to storm the streets wondering why they and they're families weren't getting food on the table.(Comment: Weren't Iraqis looting, weren't they storming the streets already?)

So, we had to make the decision to get the money out quickly. In the process, it was a war zone with third war accounting standards, not first world.Helen Thomas: It was fraud, though.

Dan Senor: (Raising his voice to a shout) It was not a fraud, it was a war zone.Helen Thomas: With our auditing, with our accounting could we have (words overtalked, lots of overtalking)

Dan Senor: Because we arrived there, Helen, and it was a third world accounting system that we inherited from Saddam's government.Helen Thomas: We have our own system.Dan Senor: And you know how long that would have taken? Maybe 10 months, a year to get in place.

Of course if the Commander in Chief didn't make it back from Iraq, like so many of his fellow citizens - or at least only in a box ... it would mean that that lying, evil, despotic, fucker Cheney would be left in charge ... I just wonder who suggested he went ?

American foreign policy is theatre, well-financed stagecraft, an enactment of power with aides preparing scripts, choreographing the scenes, setting up the drama of the lighting, predetermining camera views, picking audience composition, and even dramatically costuming not only the Prescient, but the spectators.

The theatricality of war has taken a postmodern turn, from the “saving of Private Jessica Lynch" , post Katrina NOLA with a stand in role by Stonewall Jackson, to the landing on the USS Abraham Lincoln, the and now the dead Zarkawi, this has been the most stage-crafted war in American history. Total integration of White House and Hollywood ... "Panem et circenses".

Today the The Russian Ministry for Economic Development and Trade and the Japanese Nissan Motor Company signed an agreement on the construction of a car plant (total investment $200 million (5.5 billion Rubles)) in Russia's second biggest city, St. Petersburg. It is planned to produce initially, 50,000 vehicles a year and up to 1,000 people will be working at the plant.The plant will produce at least three different models specifically adapted for the Russian market.

According to St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko, the company has chosen the town of Kamenka as the construction site, which means "a convenient location as concerns the European Union, a port on the Baltic Sea, well-developed logistics structure, qualified personnel and transport opportunities."

St Petersburg is of course the home patch of the "silivaki" and the signing ceremony was conducted within the framework of the International Economic Forum, which took place this week in St. Petersburg, representing Russia’s integration into the international economic system.

Nissan Motor Rus (NMR) is based in Moscow. NMR began commercial operations on January 1, 2004 and currently employs 100 people. It distributes Nissan vehicles and parts across the Russian dealer network, which currently has around 30 sales outlets. In 2003, Nissan sold 9,470 units.2004 ,28,436 units and in 2005, 46,485 units.. Russia will become the first European market to offer the Infiniti luxury brand with a planned launch in the Autumn of 2006.

Record Financial Result FY 05for NISSAN

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., on April 23rd 2006 announced consolidated net income of 518.1 billion yen (US $4.57 billion, euro 3.78 billion), up 1.1% for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006, a record for a sixth consecutive year.

Nissan sold a record 3,569,295 vehicles. In the US, sales advanced 6.1% despite no new models to 1,075,097 units.

GM also open plant in St Petersburg today.

GM have plans for a "me too" plant in St Petersburg wich is planned to go on line in late 2008, initially producing 25,000 units of the Chevrolet Captiva sport utility vehicle per year and later turning out a new compact car from CKD kits, GM Europe President Carl-Peter Forster said. In September, he said, GM will open a temporary plant in northern St. Petersburg that is to build 4,000 Captivas annually.

GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner and St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko stuck spades through a hole in the floor of a blue-and-white tent today, and shoveled dirt at the site of the new plant in a sandy field in Shushary, on the southern outskirts of St. Petersburg. Total investment in the new facilities amounts to $115 million. (The good thing is that Rick R has found his best job yet - digging holes - he's well qualified he has dug a massive one for GM which no amount of investment in Russia will get the shareholders out of. )

GM already have operations in Togliatti and Kaliningrad. Established in Togliatti in 2001 as the first joint venture on the Russian automotive market, GM Avtovaz builds the Chevrolet Niva and Viva. GM, with partner Avtotor, began SKD operations in Kaliningrad in 2004 and now assembles Cadillac, Hummer and Chevrolet models.

Russian car sales increased by 17% in the first 4 months of 2006.

Can Russian Motown recording stars be lying in wait ? The lady above showing her hairless chihinuana may be one waiting in the wings ?

Sandwich Repairman describes himself as "One of the World's Most Undateable, Unfuckable Men. At 29, I've never had a girlfriend and only had sex 5 times. I've tried endless dating strategies, but none have worked. I'm introverted (INTP), 5'7", a Jewish atheist and democratic socialist. I'm a feminist, don't drink, and am allergic to smoke"

To spread a little happiness I copy his musings for today...

Papier Hygenique (aka Toilet Paper)

Has anyone else noticed that toilet paper seems to be sold in larger and larger packages? I mean, I went to the grocery tonight, and the SMALLEST one I could find was 18 rolls! Then it brags about how it's so thick it's really the equivalent of 36 rolls. I live alone--that might be enough for most of a year (I admit not tracking my TP consumption patterns closely). What happened to the modest old 4-pack, or even 6 or 8? I mean I've heard all about the obesity crisis, but is my butt--are our butts--that big these days?? (According to my scale, which I'm suspicious of, I've lost 15 pounds in the last year somehow) What on earth does anyone need that much toilet paper for? Are they wallpapering rooms with it?? I could hardly even fit the bloody thing in my cart! I think I'm going to start referring to these things as Diarrhea Packs. My hometown is #1 in the US in per capita toilet paper consumption, but I still think this is nuts! No wonder the rainforests are gone, maybe we should go back to wiping our butts with fresh leaves.